Two years after severe drought, central Illinois farmers eyeing potential record harvest

Thursday

Jul 31, 2014 at 10:56 PM

Tim Landis of GateHouse Media Illinois

CHATHAM — Even corn flattened by storms looks good for the fall harvest in Illinois.

Barring major changes in conditions in the next eight weeks — and farmers are quick to point out this is the Midwest — potential record corn and soybean crops have begun to mature across the state, and nowhere more so than in central Illinois.

The once unthinkable 300 bushels an acre has been tossed around. All of this two years after the worst drought in decades.

“It’s the best grain we’ve ever had,” said Ted Dowson, who has seen harvests good, average and awful in his 76 years. Keeping that experience in mind, Dowson added, “check with me in a couple of months.”

Dowson, a member of one of the region’s oldest farm families, was among dozens of farmers at a Conklin Co. agricultural field demonstration held Thursday at Sugar Creek United Methodist Church, east of Chatham.

Farmers from across central Illinois and portions of Missouri reported the same ideal mix of rain and temperatures this year, as well as lower corn and soybean prices in anticipation of a major crop in most portions of the country.

“We had ideal planting weather in the beginning. We’ve had the steady rain we need. This year, we’ve had cooler temperatures. It hasn’t been too hot,” said Cathryn Ayers.

She and her brother, Cameron, work with her father, Jimmy, on the family farm. The Ayers family hosted Thursday’s event.

Champion grower

Corn yields of 300-bushels-plus per acre are not new for southeast Missouri farmer Jerry Cox. He has won 21 National Corn Growers Association awards for highest yields in a region that includes Minnesota, Missouri, Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Ohio and Wisconsin.

Cox, a featured speaker at the field day, said he expects to hit 300 bushels again this year in some spots of the 2,000 acres he farms just south of Cape Girardeau. The acreage is about 50-50 corn and soybeans this year.

“It looks like it does here,” Cox said of his crop. “I honestly think, for myself, it will be my highest. We still have another month or so to go here, so things could happen.”

When it comes to farm income this year, said Cox, the question is whether corn and soybean volume will offset lower prices. Corn for fall delivery has traded below $4 a bushel, which is generally considered the break-even point by agricultural analysts, while soybeans have traded just above $11, considered the difference between profits and losses.

Host farmer Jimmy Ayers said he has heard similar stories from across central Illinois — big yields and questions about prices. But two years after the devastating drought, said Ayers, farmers will take what amounts to ideal conditions in 2014.

“It’s a good year,” said Ayers, “but July and August are pivotal. We still have to fill in kernels.”

Progress report

Another record-holder, Kip Cullers, said soybeans look every bit as good as corn. Cullers has set a series of world records for soybean yields, hitting as high as 161 bushels an acre, on his southeast Missouri farm. Given weather conditions, Cullers said he has another shot this year.

“I think they’ll make for some very good yields,” said Cullers, who also was a featured speaker at Thursday’s field day.

Corn and soybeans in Illinois are in good shape and ahead of schedule, according to a weekly update of crop conditions from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Farmers surveyed by USDA rated 81 percent of corn and 77 percent of soybeans good to excellent in the report released last week.

There has been isolated field flooding in the state, and thunderstorms flattened thousands of acres of corn in northern Illinois earlier this month.

Even damaged fields have recovered in some cases, said Stan Weber, who farms near the northern Illinois community of Dixon.

“The stalks still have a little curve in them,” said Dixon. “I checked some of the ears, and it’s hard to tell the damaged corn from the good corn.”